An Insomniac's Nightmare
by mortaldarkness
Summary: Everyone's afraid of something...since Shannon was little,she has always been afraid of the dead,and she would suffer from Insomnia. She hasn't though...not since she came to the Island...but all that has changed...COMPLETE
1. Childhood Fears

An Insomniac's Nightmare

_"Have you ever had insomnia? If you have then what I'm about to say won't seem that strange, but if not, well, we'll see. I'm not going to tell you what a person like me feels; I'm going to show you what happens for yourself. I'm going to take you through a single night where the subconscious becomes reality, where you can see things in a way that you have never seen them before. Are you ready for this?"_

_(Dominic Monaghan-An Insomniac's Nightmare, preveiw)_

**_CHAPTER ONE: _**

When she was younger, Shannon had always been afraid of the dead. Afraid that they would come back and get her. She used to think that they were angry with her for letting them die, even if she didn't know them.

Then Shannon's mother had died when she was six; she could remember staring down at the darkened grave, imagining her mother screaming for help, trying to dig her way out, and her cries falling on deaf ears. Shannon could remember how when she looked around the graveyard, she could see hundreds of the dead climbing out of their graves, coming to reap their revenge upon Shannon Rutherford because she didn't save them. But then she would blink, and the image would be gone, but they always came back. The dead haunted Shannon's dreams at night.

Most nights, she would stay awake, sitting in her bed, her knees drawn up to her chin and her face streaked with tears. She would look with wild, fearful eyes around the room: at the locked door and windows, the closet, and under her bed to make sure that nothing was crawling out from underneath.

As Shannon had grown older, she learned to seal her fright behind the mask of a spoiled, selfish girl. But lately, the mask had begun to slip, ever since she had stopped having nightmares, ever since the plane crashed on the Island. She didn't even have a nightmare when she had heard that Charlie had shot Claire's kidnapper.

But not anymore.

Not since Boone died.

She had begun to see him at night, calling her name, begging for help. And each hour that passed brought him closer to his Death.


	2. Digging in the Dirt

An Insomniac's Nightmare

_Have you ever had insomnia? If you have then what I'm about to say won't seem that strange, but if not, well, we'll see. I'm not going to tell you what a person like me feels; I'm going to show you what happens for yourself. I'm going to take you through a single night where the subconscious becomes reality, where you can see things in a way that you have never seen them before. Are you ready for this?_

_(Dominic Monaghan-An Insomniac's Nightmare, preveiw)_

_**CHAPTER 2:**_

Shannon clawed at the frozen, muddied ground.

She could barely stand watching him being lowered into the ground, never too see daylight again, only hours earlier. And now, something inside of her just snapped. Here she was, now, digging up the earth with her fingers.

She needed to save him.

Boone's cries where growing fainter. _She needed more time._ Time that she didn't have; her fingernails had begun to bleed, but she didn't notice that, or the cold and frozen numbness all over her body.

"Oh, god Boone, please…"

She could faintly hear her name being called, the yells muffled by the beating of the rain, and the crashing of the thunder.

She needed to save him. Shannon couldn't, wouldn't be able to stand having to see him, dead, every night, not Boone. She couldn't have the weight of his death over her shoulders. She had too many. And she knew that she needed to at least _try_ to save him, and if she failed, then maybe he would understand.

"Shannon!" she recognized Jack's voice and moments later strong hands were pulling her to her feet. She struggled, kicking, screaming, determined to continue digging.

"He's not dead. He's not dead, god damn you! You buried him alive, you son of a bitch!"

She remembered feeling hot tears rolling down her cheeks; remembered yelling more, digging more, and then finally, the world went black.


	3. An Insomniac's Nightmare

An Insomniac's Nightmare

_"Have you ever had insomnia? If you have then what I'm about to say won't seem that strange, but if not, well, we'll see. I'm not going to tell you what a person like me feels; I'm going to show you what happens for yourself. I'm going to take you through a single night where the subconscious becomes reality, where you can see things in a way that you have never seen them before. Are you ready for this?"_

_(Dominic Monaghan-An Insomniac's Nightmare, preveiw)_

_**CHAPTER 3:**_

**__**

Shannon blinked against the bright sunlight. Slowly and unsteadily she got up, and watched the world spin for a moment. Memories of the previous night's dreams came flooding back.

_Boone…_

She closed her eyes. Shannon hadn't had such dreams for at least a year, maybe more. But now…she knew how it would go. She would have nightmares every night, of Boone or her mother, or just some random dead person she didn't save, and finally, she would be so scared that she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore. Usually she could go to Boone when she had the dreams…but not now.

"Hey. I, uh, I heard what happened last night. You okay? Shannon? Can you hear me?"

She opened her eyes suddenly, _god, she knew that voice._ Slowly she raised her head to meet the speaker's eyes.

Boone.

He was wearing his usual short sleeved shirt, and khaki pants, a knife tucked in his belt. He was going hunting with Locke again.

"Boone…I…oh god Boone. This isn't real. I'm sleeping…damn it, Boone, I tried, Christ, I tried…please, just forgive me…please…"

Boone pulled her into an embrace. She sobbed into his shoulder, feeling the fabric of his shirt rub against her cheek, slowly getting wet with her tears.

"Shan…I'm right here. I'm not going to leave, I promise. I'll just tell Locke I can't go hunting with him today. He'll understand. And when I get back, I want you to tell me what you dreamed about, alright?"

Shannon nodded mutely, and watched as her brother walked away, off to go find Locke.

Slowly, she raised her hands to look at them.

They were covered in dirt, and there was dried blood under the fingernails.

Shannon screamed.


End file.
